These are actually half of my review books. All of the books were pretty good and I am really glad about it. Also I have to say I am satisfied with what I managed to read this month. Hopefully I will get through the rest of my review books next month.

Today I am welcoming Karina Halle on Mostly Reviews. She is the author of Experiment in Terror, Devils and The Artists series and she is here to talk about Kick-ass heroines, with good reason since all her main characters are kick-ass heroines.

Why kick-ass heroines need to make a comebackby Karina Halle

I’m not sure if anyone else has noticed this, but lately when you pick up a book that’s collecting a lot of buzz and hype, you’ll find the male lead to be hot and charming (and maybe a bit of douche – but that’s okay) but the female is virginal and weak, with no backbone. I’m no feminist, but isn't it better to have a female that’s worthy of the man she’s fighting for (or with)? She doesn’t even have to kick literal ass, but she should at least have conviction, determination and a pair of woman balls. Wouldn’t that make for a more interesting story, being able to root for someone that’s brave and gutsy and pro-active?

Personally, I think so. I’ve written three different series with three different sets of heroines and they’re all pretty different but still kick-ass in their own way. Yes, they all have their own insecurities and flaws – and who doesn’t? But they’re also strong with a sense of self-respect.

My heroine in the Experiment in Terror Series, Perry Palomino, is probably the weakest of the bunch. When you first see her in Darkhouse (book one), she comes across as terribly insecure and indecisive. She just doesn’t know what she wants or how to get it. But despite these flaws, Perry manages to be completely brave in situations where I’d be running the other way and stands up for what she believes is right. This makes her a wonderful for foil to Dex, her partner, a man who needs someone to put him in his place every now and then. And of course, as the series goes on, Perry grows up. She loses some of the insecurities and as she discovers what she wants (Dex, mainly) she goes after it. She also gets stronger in a physical sense as well, battling demons and ghosts and mess of other creatures. Does she get knocked down? Yes. Does she get back up? Always.

In The Devil’s Metal, we have the character of Dawn Emerson. Now Dawn is around the same age as Perry (early 20’s), but she’s from a completely different time period – the 1970’s. Because Dawn is a feisty and intelligent woman with big dreams and ambitions, her strong traits are magnified. After all, in the 70’s, women were still fighting for their rights and the women’s movement was underway. Though I think Dawn would be an admirable, self-sacrificing female nowadays, her era really makes her moxie stick out. It wasn’t easy for a young female music journalist to go on the road with her favorite rock band in 1974, but Dawn was more than up for the challenge – even when it put her life at risk.

Last, but certainly not least, we have Ellie Watt from Sins & Needles. In some ways, Ellie is the strongest of all my characters. I mean, she’s a con artist, surviving on the road by lying, cheating and scamming people. She knows how to handle a gun with ease, can hold her own in a fight against an angry mobster, and has big enough balls to go after the leader of a drug cartel. But while Ellie is as tough as nails, she has this aching vulnerability inside, and insecurity that clouds her judgement at times. This combination of being hard and cold on the outside yet damaged on the inside makes Ellie an extremely kick-ass heroine. She will kick your ass…then take your wallet. She won’t let anyone walk all over her. But she’s certainly not perfect and I think that makes her strength all the more powerful.

I’d love to see more strong women in fiction these days. Some of my favorite kick-ass heroines range from having conviction and self-respect (Jane Eyre) to being physically and mentally tough (Buffy Summers) to having determination and sexuality (Mac Lane) to having intelligence and bravery (Dana Scully). All of these women are perfect examples of how a good, strong female character can drive your story and give you someone worth rooting for. After all, if these ladies can do it – why can’t we? They become role models to the reader and make us want to toughen up in our everyday lives, even if it means just standing up to your boss at work or lacing up a pair of fabulous shit-kicker boots.

I sure love a good kick-ass heroine and can't wait to read more about the three ladies Karina has created.

The Books

These are just the first books in each series. Click the images for the goodreads page of each book.

The Giveaway

Karina is offering one of you a paperback copy of one of her books, your pick.

Feb 27, 2013

As for my lovely post, today I am featuring a series that I adore. The Empath Chronicles by Selina Fenech. Besides a talented author she designs her own covers too. So, she is here today to talk about the designing process of one of her covers.

Thanks to Veronica for inviting me to guest post on her blog. I’m an author of young adult stories. I’m also an artist and designer, so I design my own covers, and sometimes even illustrate my novels.

Veronica asked me to share the process of one of my cover designs, so here is the most recent cover I designed for the next installment in my young adult paranormal series, the Empath Chronicles.

I stumbled across the perfect photo for the cover of Emotionally Unstable on a designers pre-made covers site, so I bought their premade cover just to get the photo. The models and pose were just what I wanted so I couldn't resist getting to work on this cover design!

Once I had the file to work with from the designer, I removed their text and enlarged the photo so it filled the space better. Because this is part of a series I want the covers to be similar, and none of the other covers so far show the characters faces, so I push the faces up off the top of the cover a bit.

I already have the title text design ready to go because it will also match the other covers in the series. The glow around the title text was created by doing a radial blur on a copy of the text, which was placed behind the main text (which has an outer glow effect applied), and then a swirly light stock photo was overlaid over the top.Now it’s time to go crazy with colour! The idea behind the Empath Chronicles series is that there are people, Empaths, who have the power to feed on other’s emotions to give themselves superpowers. There are also people with the ability to close off their emotions, and block an Empath’s powers. On the cover we have both an Empath, and a Blocker, and I want the colours to reflect their clashing powers. So I’ve overlaid a gradient of blue through to red across the photo.

I use some stock photos of swirling smoke and overlay them over the photo as well, to create a sense of movement, like energy flowing into the characters.

My main character, Livvy, had some wacky stuff happen with her powers in the first book, Emotionally Charged. Emotionally Unstable will deal with the issues relating to her, well,unstable powers! I wanted to ramp up the energy on the image of her on the cover. I found a great photo of spraying sparks which I add over the model, and also add in some strands of hair blowing to give the image more movement. Then I think I’m about done! What do you think of the final cover design?

Emotionally Unstable is some time away while I work on releasing my next Memory’s Wake book. The first book in the Empath Chronicles series (Emotionally Charged) and a short story about one of the characters (Emotionally Scarred) are both available now on Amazon.

I love to see how other people work one their covers. And this series covers are all pretty awesome. Take a look and read my reviews to find out more about the books. Also click the images for the Goodreads page.

Feb 26, 2013

As for my post, the talented Janelle Stalder is here today to talk about Bad Boys. Yes, I know, I love them too. So let's hear what she has to say...

I think Jennifer L. Armentrout said it best when she wrote, “Beautiful face. Beautiful Body. Horrible attitude. It was the holy trinity of hot boys.” – Obsidian

The wonderful and talented Veronica has asked me to come on here today and talk about bad boys. Poor me – not! As if talking about bad boys in books is any hardship. I don’t know what it is, but no matter what kind of girl you are there is just something about them bad boys we all seem to love. I think I get a new bad boy love every week. They are addictive and intriguing, and we just can’t seem to get enough. And thankfully there are so many talented authors out there that write such amazing bad boys for us to fall in love with!

To say exactly why we seem to love that one boy that just doesn’t seem to care what anyone thinks, is hard to say for everyone. I don’t think I can speak for all the bad boy lovers out there, but I can definitely speak for myself and give some insight as to why I gravitate toward them. There is just something attractive about a man with confidence. I don’t mean a cocky ego that gets on your nerves. Let’s be honest, some guys need to tone that down a bit. I mean the guy that looks bad, talks bad, walks bad, but is fundamentally good when you get past all that. His confidence and self-assurance is what catches the eye, but his personality is what ultimately seals the deal. It’s those redeeming qualities that turn us from flesh and blood, to complete mush and goo. I find that the bad boys are also the protective kind. The ones that won’t hesitate to stand up for their girl and fight off any sort of threat. They don’t mince words, or are afraid to express their feelings when the time comes. Personally I like a guy that I can’t walk all over. This is another reason I love the bad boys. It’s not attractive when a guy does everything you say. There is something very non-masculine about a guy who takes all his cues from the female. I like to be challenged. Bad boys love to challenge. When the lead boy and girl bicker it makes us readers giddy and excited. That tension builds up and when it explodes we’re all about ready to melt.

Writing a bad boy can be difficult, because you have to make sure that despite all his “bad boy” qualities, he does have some good in there to redeem himself. He’s not bad deep down, he’s just not conforming to what others want him to be. He’s walking his own road, and just doesn’t give a crap. He can be temperamental and a bit crass at times, but as a writer you have to make sure that he’s balanced. It also helps to make sure he looks as gorgeous as possible. Kissable lips and eyes you can get lost in don’t hurt. And you can’t forget the ink! Who doesn’t love a bad boy with some artwork permanently tattooed on a well sculpted body?! The only downside to these boys is that they’re fictional!

To narrow down all the bad boys I’ve loved in books is hard, because there are so many. I’m going to list as many as I can think of off the top of my head, but I know I’m going to miss some. Here’s what I can think of:

Travis Maddox – Beautiful Disaster by: Jamie McGuire (as if that’s a surprise he came first to mind lol)

Hunter Zaccadelli – My Favorite Mistake by: Chelsea M. Cameron

Alex Fuentes – Perfect Chemistryby: Simone Elkeles

Daemon Black – Lux Series by: Jennifer L. Armentrout

Kellan Kyle – Thoughtless series by: S.C. Stephens

Beau Vincent – The Vincent Boys by: Abbi Glines (you’ll see a lot of her for bad boy lists!)

There are so many more. I didn’t even really go into the adult side of things. This list would have been ten pages if I had. My all-time favourite bad boy is without a doubt, hands down, no questions asked …

Jericho Barrons – Fever Series by: Karen Marie Moning

No one tops Barrons lol well I would!lol Just kidding. (No I’m not) Those are just some, and I’m sure there are so many more to come, but it gives you an idea. If you haven’t read some of those books, you need to do so now!

Thank you so much to Veronica for having me on here today! She is such an amazing supporter of me and my books, and it means the world to me that she asked me to do this post for her.

I was supposed to write a review about Born Wicked today, but after I started the book I couldn't manage to finish it. So here's what my Goodreads review says:

I did not finish this one. I tried to. Even reached page 93 but this book was terribly boring for me. The characters were ok, but the story and the execution of the story not so much. It was really slow, even after all those pages nothing major had happened and honestly I didn't care to learn anything more about the story. I was really hoping to love this one, cause I love the cover and witches but it just wasn't for me.

Still I am giving away my copy to one of you, 'cause a lot of people loved this book and I have the beautiful hardcover version. So hopefully whoever wins it will like it more than I did.

The Giveaway

Since I will be the one shipping the book this is a Europe only giveaway.

Welcome everyone to my week on the Fire & Ice blog hop. As your hostess for the last week I have a bunch of giveaways planned and a few more to link to. So stay tuned.

Today there are no other giveaways but this one. But trust me it's a good one. So, let's get started. The book I am featuring today is Gifted by Liz Long. And Liz has stopped by to answer a few bookish questions.

My Review

Lucy is gifted, like so many others in the world with a special power, hers is fire. Lucy is a firestarter, someone who can create and control fire. Soon after the death of both her parents she decides it's time to return to the place she spent part of her childhood, the Donovan Circus. There gifted people, mixed with a few actual humans, put on an amazing show to entertain the masses. Lucy will make new friends and start to feel like she belongs again, but before the good feeling can sink in someone turns up dead. Burned to death. And the new firestarter is the number one suspect. Now Lucy has to clear her name and find out who the real killer is before more people she cares about end up dead.

Gifted had all the thinks I love reading about. A circus, someone with firepower and people popping up dead. I really enjoyed the circus life and all the different characters we were introduced to. So many amazing gifted people. I wasn't the hugest fan of Lucy in the beginning cause she just couldn't realise the obvious, that her gifted was so much better than anyones else, that she was truly special, but she finally saw that. Her two love interests on the other hand (yes this has a love triangle in it) were both swoon worthy. I found myself more attracted to Keegan though, although it's pretty obvious she won't end up with him and I felt sorry for him cause Lucy was kind of leading him on.

There was a lot of action in the beginning of the book and a pretty awesome fight at the end of it, but in the middle the book got a little slow. Lucy was not hanging out with her friends that much, instead she was always with her two love interests, talking on and on. That was the downfall of it. It was a bit frustrating after the great beginning, but fortunately the ending was action packed too. Hence the 4 stars.

All in all, this is a great book. Especially if like me you are a huge fan of circus novels and firestarters.

★★★★☆

The Interview

Describe your book in three words.Fast, action-packed, mystery

What inspired you to write about a circus?The circus setting actually came second in the story - when I began to write the "Gifted" world, I came up with several characters and gifts first. After asking myself how in the world they'd hide themselves from humans, the circus was an immediate answer - it made total sense to have them hide in plain sight! Then it sort of took a life of its own as I began to put the puzzle pieces together in how Lucy got there and what would happen.

Was describing the circus life a challenge? Did you get any research done in order to do so?The circus life wasn't too challenging, at least for this book. Since I wanted the focus to be on Lucy and her circumstances, and because she is so new, I left circus life a little vague, since we're discovering everything for the first time with her. She doesn't know the routines or rules, so it was easy to move right along with her and learn them. I did do a bit of research - I own a few "behind the circus scenes" books and spent several hours watching and rewatching the PBS documentary "Big Apple" which was really helpful in the little things, such as how they set up their camps behind the grounds. But because this is a unique supernatural world, I openly admit I changed many things to work with the gifted world.

Where do you usually write/read? (Provide photos if possible)I have a small office where I write, though I often choose to take my laptop and go to the couch instead so I can sit with my dog and write while my husband plays video games. I read on a Kindle, so that's 9 out of 10 times done on the couch.

What is the one thing you always need with you when you are writing? (Music, notebook, coffee...)It's not a requirement, but I have an unhealthy love for Hot Tamales, which are great for waking myself up when it's midnight and I'm still trying to finish a scene! I don't think I really have any "must haves." Sometimes I write with music and sometimes not - as long as I have my laptop with Scrivener open at the ready, I'm good to go!

What are your top 3 favourite books/series of all time?

Harry Potter is hands down my top favorite series of all time. It's just not fair how brilliant JK is with the little details! I also loved the Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris, though admittedly I'll be glad when she finishes the 13th and final book since it's dragged out a little - same goes for the Stephanie Plum novels by Janet Evanovich. I'm a sucker for thrillers or murder mysteries.

Your favourite movies or tv shows?I watch way, way too much TV. I would say either Grimm or Elementary are my favorite shows right now. Grimm combines a supernatural aspect with a cop drama which is right up my alley. As far as movies, I'm in love with the Avengers and any superhero movies involving those heroes, as well as the Dark Knight trilogy. I really don't think I can pick just one favorite!

What should we expect from you in the future?I'm anticipating my next release, Witch Hearts, to be out this spring. I haven't written out the synopsis yet, but witches are being murdered with their hearts ripped out. Ruby, the protagonist, becomes the killer's obsession after he kills her best friend. I also plan to write another title in the Gifted Donovan Circus series this year, though that might not be released til early 2014. And of course, there are always 59 other ideas brewing in the back of my mind!

The Giveaway

Liz is offering one e-copy(Kindle or Nook) of Gifted to one lucky winner.

Feb 22, 2013

Hey everyone. I am really excited because there is another novella coming out in the Heven and Hell series and today I have the honor to be on the cover reveal. So without any further ado here's the cover and the book info.

Beneath (Heven and Hell #3.5)by Cambria Hebert
Release Date: March 29, 2013Where I came from everything is perfect. Everything is beautiful and predictable. Life isn’t measured by days, but by infinite joy that never ends.But it did.When I fell in love with a man who was perfectly imperfect. The price for forbidden affection was steep and my beautiful white wings withered and died around me. I was fallen. I am fallen. Years have passed, and I’ve learned the true meaning of time. I’ve learned to build a wall around myself and exist alone. Yet, when he looks at me… the heart beneath my armor trembles. But I must remember. I must remember that I might not have anything left to lose, but he certainly does. And risking him is something I won’t do. So I lock my feelings where they belong. Beneath.

And here is the book trailer.

Author Bio

Cambria Hebert is the author of the young
adult paranormal Heven and Hell series
and the Death Escorts series. She
loves a caramel latte, hates math and is afraid of chickens (yes, chickens).
She went to college for a bachelor’s degree, couldn’t pick a major and ended up
with a degree in cosmetology. So rest assured her characters will always have
good hair. She currently lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and children
(both human and furry) where she is plotting her next book. You can find out
more about Cambria and her work by visiting http://www.cambriahebert.com

Welcome back everyone to another Fire & Ice giveaway. This time I am featuring one of my favorite series of all times. Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins. And to see how much I love this series here are my 5 star reviews for all three books.

Oh My God! Where do I begin with Hex Hall? The book was so amazing I had to force myself to stop reading it cause I had a life to live. I loved it!!!

The cover is so pretty I knew I had to buy it in hardback from the first time I saw it. Thank God I did!
Sophie is a smart, funny heroine, who I loved from the first page. Hex Hall is a place I'd kill to be really, just like Hogwarts. The story was amazing, I loved that there were so many things from the past that influence the story line.

I ordered the next one before I was finished but I still have to wait a week to get my hands on it. I want so bad to read it!

Oh my... what an amazing book! Be careful, don't start reading this one unless you already have Spell Bound. Trust me.

In Demonglass we follow Sophie to her trip in London the summer right after everything in the first book happened. Accompanied by her best friend, the vampire, Jenna and her betrothal Cal, as we soon discover, Sophie visits Thorne Abbey, the place where her father lives and her Grandmother Alice was turned into a demon. But what she finds there is even more surprising than she expected, there are other two demon-kids living in Thorne Abbey along with few of the Councils members. Sophie will try to find as much as she can about the two other demons, her father, the history behind Alice's transformation and of course herself, all the while running from the Eye and discovering who is actually raising all these demons.

This book was AMAZING. I was a little sad that it wouldn't take place at Hex Hall, I really loved that school, but still it was amazing. Everything I was expecting, action, drama, sarcasm and a lot of surprises, both good and bad along the way. After reading halfway through the book I couldn't stop there was so much going on, so many new discoveries and secrets revealed and so much yet to be discovered.

As always I loved Sophie and her sarcasm, this girl had me laughing every other sentence. And Archer, oh Archer, how much I missed you! I was really glad he was back. All the moments he spend with Sophie were simply magical.

I can't really say anything else about this book cause I am afraid I would just start posting spoilers. I mean... I am still socked from the ending. Massive CLIFFHANGER. You have been warned!

In the last book of the Hex Hall series the story goes on right after Sophie tries to find her mother who is living with the Brannicks, where she discovers even more secrets about her family's past and who she is. One by one the people she is worried might be dead turn up to be okay, but before she even has any time to calm herself and make a plan to bring the Casnoffs down, she gets pulled back in Hex Hall, literally, and this time the school is nothing like it used to be.

Oh my, what an amazing ending to an awesome series. Loved loved loved it! The action, the sarcasm, the tears, the passions. I love this series to the end. I hate that it's over and I can't wait for the spin-off that I think it's going to be about Izzy Brannick, because there was oen thing about her and the dude in the mirror, Torin, mentioned in this book but it was left unsolved. So...fingers crossed.

Anyways, I don't think I can say much about this book cause I just finished it and I am left speecless and a bit breathless. I love the world Hawkins has created and Sophie, oh Sophie, how I love your snarky comments. You rock girl! I am not going to start another rant about how awesome the characters are, I think I did it with the two first books. I am just going to say that this book left me with the perfect bittersweet feeling and simply made me happy in the end.

Feb 19, 2013

Welcome back for another Fire & Ice giveaway. This time around I have a very special book for you guys. I just read and totally fell in love with A Shade of Vampire. You might think, "Vampires? I got bored of them a million years ago", trust me I did too but this book is amazing. The story, the characters, everything.

My Review

I started reading this book expecting nothing really just a short vampire story and since I am not a big fan of vampires I thought that I might not even like the story, but because of the book's length I gave it a try. Little did I know I would end up loving it at the end.

A Shade of Vampire is the story of Sofia, a girl that has been taken captive just to enter a vampire prince's harem and Derek, the prince who just woke up from a 400 years sleep and who hates what he has become. The story was fast paced and didn't have a single boring moment. Even though the book is basically about how Sofia got in the island and met Derek and how their life started there and you'd expect that to be boring, it is not! At all.

The characters of this book is what made me truly love it though. Sofia and Derek are pretty much the perfect characters to me.

Sofia, is terrified of getting abducted and being trapped into a mysterious island but that doesn't stop her from trying to escape and standing up for herself, even having compassion for her captors. I loved the struggle inside her as she realizes that her life in the island is better than it used to be (her life sucked before anything happened) and how she doesn't allow herself to believe that she found a new home, cause the people around her are blood drinking vamps.

On the other hand there is Derek. I loved that the book had he pov too. Derek is so sweet and strong and protective of his people. He doesn't like the fact that he has become a vampire and he still struggles to hold on to his humanity. Basically if it was up to him he would go back to sleep forever so that he wouldn't have to face the monster he and his family has become.

Besides the main characters who we get to know a lot about there are others too. Derek's dangerous brother, and I am not talking Damon Salvatore dangerous, I am talking crazy, psycho killer dangerous. And Vivienne who in the end left me waiting for the next book.

★★★★★

The Giveaway
Bella has kindly offered a signed copy of the book.
So what are you waiting for? Go enter now!

I started reading this book expecting nothing really just a short vampire story and since I am not a big fan of vampires I thought that I might not even like the story, but because of the book's length I gave it a try. Little did I know I would end up loving it at the end.

A Shade of Vampire is the story of Sofia, a girl that has been taken captive just to enter a vampire prince's harem and Derek, the prince who just woke up from a 400 years sleep and who hates what he has become. The story was fast paced and didn't have a single boring moment. Even though the book is basically about how Sofia got in the island and met Derek and how their life started there and you'd expect that to be boring, it is not! At all.

The characters of this book is what made me truly love it though. Sofia and Derek are pretty much the perfect characters to me.

Sofia, is terrified of getting abducted and being trapped into a mysterious island but that doesn't stop her from trying to escape and standing up for herself, even having compassion for her captors. I loved the struggle inside her as she realizes that her life in the island is better than it used to be (her life sucked before anything happened) and how she doesn't allow herself to believe that she found a new home, cause the people around her are blood drinking vamps.

On the other hand there is Derek. I loved that the book had he pov too. Derek is so sweet and strong and protective of his people. He doesn't like the fact that he has become a vampire and he still struggles to hold on to his humanity. Basically if it was up to him he would go back to sleep forever so that he wouldn't have to face the monster he and his family has become.

Besides the main characters who we get to know a lot about there are others too. Derek's dangerous brother, and I am not talking Damon Salvatore dangerous, I am talking crazy, psycho killer dangerous. And Vivienne who in the end left me waiting for the next book.

Feb 18, 2013

Second week of the Review Copy Cleanup has come to an end and I am really glad with what I managed to read last week. As I have said before during the first week I only managed to read one review book, Tough Girl, but last week I read two! YAY!

Ashuliya: The Lost Kingdom by Sabine A. Reed (There is no link for it yet)

Last week I read Recalled and then A Shade of Vampire. Both books got 5 stars but I have to say A Shade of Vampire blew me away. I went in with zero expectations, maybe thinking it won't be good cause I am not a fan of vamps, but it was amazing. Wait for my review tomorrow and a giveaway :) Truly amazing. And of course Recalled was brilliant too, but I've read all of Hebert's books and it was to be expected.

So, right now I am not reading any review book, instead I started Born Wicked, which hopefully will pick up the pace soon. But after that I will start Finding ELE.

With A Feast for Crows, Martin delivers the long-awaited fourth volume of the landmark series that has redefined imaginative fiction and stands as a modern masterpiece in the making.

After centuries of bitter strife, the seven powers dividing the land have beaten one another into an uneasy truce. But it's not long before the survivors, outlaws, renegades, and carrion eaters of the Seven Kingdoms gather. Now, as the human crows assemble over a banquet of ashes, daring new plots and dangerous new alliances are formed while surprising faces—some familiar, others only just appearing—emerge from an ominous twilight of past struggles and chaos to take up the challenges of the terrible times ahead. Nobles and commoners, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and sages, are coming together to stake their fortunes...and their lives. For at a feast for crows, many are the guests—but only a few are the survivors.

Burning Sky (Sora Gate, #1)
Now available on Wattpad
New chapters added every Tuesday.